Chapter 13

**Artemis**


After I make it back to my office I call Abigail in to cover the emails we hadn't gotten around to discussing. Most of them are pretty standard requests for services that we file away for when we have an opening in our schedule.

Every once in a while my mind drifts to Blue's face when I handed her my credit card. It was stupid to give something so expensive to a woman I barely know, but for some reason I trust her. Besides I get an alert to any transactions from the card which have to also be approved by me personally before it is processed completely. I can't be too careful with a credit card that valuable.

I had expected Blue to be okay with me staying behind after taking it but she looked disappointed. Is it too much to hope she was disappointed because I wasn't going with her or is that selfish? I freaked out. Did it hurt her to see me pull back from her?

"Mr. Rhodes?" Abigail's voice cuts through my waring thoughts.

I needed to focus and Blue was making it difficult by simply existing. How do I get her out of my head so I can focus?

"The last email is from your brother." That did the trick.

"What does he want?" I can't stop the disdain in my voice if I tried.

There has been a rift between us since we were young. I figured it was normal for brothers to not get along well, but by the time we hit our twenties things only got worse.

"He wants to hire us to handle his campaign security. He's worried that someone might try to hack his network and rig evidence or information to get him removed from the ballet."

No shock there. Tet has a habit of thinking of himself as more powerful and important than the rest of us mortals. He takes the fact that mother named us after greek gods and goddesses as permission to act like a self-entitled prick. Not once has anyone threatened him in the virtual world or the physical one. He's being dramatic as always and knows well that I don't do work for my family.

"Tell him I'm not interested in the job," I tell Abigail and move on to the next item. "Now about the post we made about Blue. Did you take it down?"

"Yes sir, but nothing is ever really gone from the internet. People saved and shared that tweet a thousand times over by now. They could easily repost it or anything else pertaining to it."

Have I mentioned my disdain for social media?

"How do we make people lose interest in this? Doesn't the gossip population move on rather quickly on those sites?" I realize I sound like an old man, but I can not stand social media in any form.

"We need a story that would draw attention away from Blue and back on you and the company. The problem is that people are more interested in the personal lives of high-profile individuals than their professional side. Perhaps helping your brother could direct attention to your relationship with your family for now. I must warn you that there won't be a time when the interest in your life with Blue won't get attention from the public."

I hate that she's right but it's something my family has had to deal with for a long time. Blue on the other hand has never felt the pressure of being in the public eye.

"I want to protect her but that seems impossible." I don't mean to say it out loud but it's too late to take it back.

When I look at Abigail over the screen of my computer she's smiling at me.

"You really like her don't you?" She asks.

We never talk about our personal lives but she has spent time with Blue and seems to care about her.

"I don't know. How could I when I barely know her?"

Abigail shrugs. "Sometimes you know as soon as you meet someone that you'll click. It feels easy being around them from the very beginning. You miss them when they're not around and think about them whenever your mind wanders. They become the center of your world."

"You speak as if you know from experience."

She laughs. "I met my boyfriend in high school and we got married a year later. We knew as soon as we met that we would be forever."

"You're married?"

She nods. "Yeah."

"You don't wear a ring." I tilt my head at her and she looks down at her hand.

"We couldn't afford rings so we went the untraditional route. It's subtle and only noticeable if you really look but we had our rings tattooed on." I look hard at her finger and see a white line.

It's thin and only a few shades lighter than her skin. As she said, you wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking.

"Blue won't wear the ring I got for her."

"I know. It was beautiful but maybe a little too much." She cringes when she says this.

"It's the sort of ring my mother or sisters would like."

"From the little time I spent with her, I can tell she isn't interested in extravagant things. Even the clothes I brought her seemed to make her uncomfortable. I think she thought they were too nice for her."

She's right. That's why I wanted Blue to buy something that she would like to wear. Speaking of...I haven't checked on her for a few hours. I grab my phone and send a quick message to Bryant.

Abigail is looking down at her phone when I turn my attention to her. Her forehead is creased and her mouth is pulled into a straight line. Something must have happened.

"What's wrong?"

She looks up at me with wide eyes like she forgot I was here. That immediately puts me on alert.

"Um...I think you should look at this sir." She stands and hands me her phone.

I look down at the screen and see a video of Bryant and Dane escorting Blue out of a store. She's covering her face and trying to hide behind Bryant's large frame. Anger flares to life inside me and I curse myself for not going with them.

My phone finally chimes with a reply from Bryant. Instead of reading it, I call him. It takes three rings before he picks up.

"Mr. Rhodes I was just about to call."

"What the hell happened?" I snap at him.

"We went to a store away from the main shopping strip. It was low-key enough that we weren't followed. One of the employees recognized Miss Blue and called someone, but there were people there in seconds. My guess is someone else tipped them off when we first arrived."

I pinch the bridge of my nose out of habit to try and calm myself down.

"Where are you guys now?"

"We drove around for a while to lose anyone following us and then moved on to the hotel."

"Good...Is she alright?"

He sighs and I squeeze my eyes shut. That isn't a good sound.

"She's shaken, sir. I tried to offer to order some food for her, but she refused. She's been laying down in her room for a while now."

"Okay. Thanks, Bryant. I'll head there as soon as I can." I'm not going to let my head mess me up right now.

In one day Blue has been harassed far worse than my family ever has. She must be terrified and I left her alone to deal with it alone. I may be a complete asshole sometimes, but she doesn't deserve to deal with this. Right now I'm the one who's supposed to be taking care of her and I need to step up and do that. If anything she could use a friend, not that I'm any better at that.

I end the call with Bryant and stand. "I have to call it a day. Blue needs me."

"You have a lot going on Mr. Rhodes. I can check on her if you'd like."

I shake my head. "No, I want to deal with this myself."

She nods and lets me leave without any other objections.

Thankfully my car is still here since Bryant had taken the other to escort Blue. It isn't often that I drive myself anymore but I don't want to wait for someone to come get me.

The hotel isn't far and from the lack of a crazy mob, it seems no one knows we're staying here. I pull into the underground garage and take the first spot I find. A guy comes rushing over but I don't listen to what he says. I hand him my keys and head straight for the elevator leading into the lobby. As soon as I step into the large lobby another man shuffles my way with a smile on his face.

"Mr. Rhodes it's an honor to have you staying with us." He's walking quickly next to me trying to keep up but I don't slow down to wait for him.

"I need to get to my room now."

"Of course sir! Please let us know if you need anything." He yells after me.

Don't these people see I'm too busy to listen to their bullshit? Blue needs me dammit!

She needs me...